Get to know AYA behind the scenes! Over the next few months we will be “speed dating” our staff at the national office in Stamford, CT. In addition to supporting you and your students during your cultural exchange experience, they are striving each day to bring the world together by connecting students with families across the globe! AYA offers 24/7 support, 365 days a year. Our talented team of professionals offer guidance and help to give you the most out of your exchange experience. This month, Virginia Clark a.k.a “Ginny”, our Student Support Administrator is our first date!
Name: Virginia “Ginny” Clark
Job title: Student Support Administrator
How many years have you worked at AYA?
I have been with AYA for a little over a year and a half.
What do you do at AYA?
My job at AYA is to support students! I send out student surveys to check-in on how their year is going, newsletters to share exchange stories, and I work directly with the Student Support Specialist team to ensure students are having a successful, safe, and fun exchange year! I also work with Local Coordinators (LCs) and host families to discuss any concerns and collaboratively we put together an action plan to address them effectively to make sure everyone is having a successful year!
How many students & host families do you support?
There are over 700 students and over 600 host families working with AYA this year, and I am here for all of them. Throughout the course of the year the Student Support Team and myself will personally speak with hundreds of students and host families across the country.
Why do you like to work for a high school exchange program?
I have always enjoyed working with teens (I went to college to be a teacher) so the high school element of this organization is natural fit for me. I think high school years are a time of so much growth and change, and I love to be a part of that process! As far as the cultural exchange aspect of the program, that is something I have become more and more interested in as I’ve gotten older. I find that even the tiniest differences between cultures can be fascinating and I love to learn new things. Working at AYA is a great way for me to combine so many things I think are interesting and important in our world!
What is the most rewarding experience you have had at AYA?
Well, first of all, I love being a part of an organization that helps young people fulfill their dreams of participating in an exchange year. But the most rewarding individual experiences I’ve had so far have involved working with students one on one. I feel really good about being able to talk through situations with students and help them learn something about themselves. Students always say they learn and mature a lot while they are on the program, which is totally true, and if I can be a small contributor to that I feel like I’m doing my job well.
What is the best advice you can give an exchange student?
Talk, talk, talk and listen, listen, listen! Have open conversations with the people around you about how you are feeling, and listen to how they are feeling. This will help you connect, learn, and be successful.
What are three unexpected things a host family will experience while hosting an exchange student?
- Host families will probably learn something about their own family by bringing someone new into the mix and hearing a different point of view about things that seem totally normal to them.
- Hosting will link you to another part of the world in a personal way. Your ears will perk up when you hear something on the news about where your student is from, or you will find a new cuisine or type of music you love.
- Families will realize there are both big and small differences between American culture and other cultures from around the globe. Many of these differences will be things they never thought of as “cultural”, like how loud people talk, the ways teens speak to adults, or even the amount of time someone spends in their room!
If you could turn back time and be an AYA exchange student what would you look forward to most?
I think I would look forward to making international friends and trying completely new foods. I love that!
In the future if you decide to be a host family what is the one tradition or place you would like to share or show your student?
Since I grew up in New York State I would HAVE to share New York City! It is a pretty unbelievable place. However, I also have a personal tradition where I have a donut and coffee every weekend and then sit down and plan my meals for the week. I call it a “Donut Meeting,” and it is great for relationship building and planning time for future activities. I would want to share that with a student for sure!
Would you prefer to host or be an exchange student and why?
I don’t think you can go wrong being either, but I think for me, I would want to be an exchange student! I love to try new things and explore. Plus that would also provide me with the opportunity to take some fabulous selfies!
We hope you enjoyed your date with Ginny and if you would like to follow her student support journey at AYA, follow her on Facebook, here! Stay tuned next month for a speed date with our Grants Regional Director, Michael Falvey!
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